Chantix- Anti Smoking pills recommended despite safety concerns

The Federal officers' new advice to the healthcare professionals for helping smokers quit, recommends the popular drug Chantix, a smoking cessation product, which has been linked with erratic behavior, depressiondefine and suicidal thoughts.

The new government guidelines mention the psychiatric risks associated with Chantix, the famous Pfizer Inc. drug, but also add that it is quite helpful in keeping people off the butt. Chantix works by blocking the effect that nicotine has on the brain, thus making it easier for people to stop smoking.

The recent guidelines highly recommend combining counseling with medication to kick off the habit. But the health care providers are encouraged to talk to all smokers who want to stop about trying medication.

The consumer advocates warned that the safety picture on the Chantix (varenicline tartrate) is incomplete, because it has been in the market for a short time, just since 2006.

Dr. Sidney Wolfe of the watchdog group Public Citzen says it's "somewhat better" than other therapies but he says it "appears to have more risk."

“That part of the risk-benefit equation is missing and it’s changing rapidly ”, he added.

John Polito, a smoking cessation educator who runs the WhyQuit.com site said, "People are quitting smoking to save their lives," Polito said. If Chantix's risks outweigh its benefits, "then it's insane for people to risk their lives" by using it, he said.

Another issue with the guidelines is that their lead author, Dr. Michael Fiore, was previously a consultant to Pfizer. Dr. Fiore's significant financial ties to the pharmaceutical quit smoking product industry made front page ethics news in the Wall Street Journal last year.

Dr. Fiore says he cut those ties in 2005 and says the guidelines are based on scientific evidence reviewed by independent experts.

Chantix was approved by the FDA in May 2006 to aid smoking cessation. The FDA issued an advisory in 2008 that healthcare professionals, patients, patients' families and caregivers should be alert and monitor for changes in mood and behavior in people taking Chantix.

The symptoms may include anxiety, tension, depressed mood, nervousness, erratic behavior and suicidal thoughts. Individuals who are taking Chantix should report changes in mood and behavior to their doctor immediately. The FDA also advises that people taking Chantix may experience impaired ability to drive or operate heavy machinery.